Russian industrialists are prepared to invest heavily in the production of Oreshnik medium-range ballistic missiles, said Alexander Shokhin, president of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (RSPP).
"Russian business is ready to provide money for the production of Oreshnik," Shokhin stated, explaining that entrepreneurs feel more secure under the "shadow" of these advanced missile systems.
The Oreshnik missile gained attention after its use on November 21, when Russia launched a strike on Ukraine.
President Vladimir Putin called it a new development and said it was deployed in response to Western-supplied ATACMS and Storm Shadow missile strikes deep inside Russian territory.
However, the Pentagon identified the Oreshnik as a modified RS-26 Rubezh intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM).
Propaganda or Reality?
Sources speaking to The Moscow Times allege that the Oreshnik’s deployment was a Kremlin-orchestrated propaganda operation aimed at intimidating Western audiences. The campaign involved distributing videos of the strike, a media blackout enforced by Kremlin officials, and Putin’s dramatic speech at the CSTO summit.
Despite claims of mass production, insiders say Russia’s reserves of Oreshnik missiles are limited, and scaling up production will take years.
President Putin has doubled down on the missile’s significance, stating that Oreshnik production is underway and that its use in large-scale strikes could rival the destructive power of nuclear weapons.
"By and large, we now need to improve not the nuclear doctrine, but the Oreshnik," Putin said on December 10.
